This invention relates to organofunctional silicone agents for the treatment of fibers. More precisely this invention relates to a mixture comprising two organofunctional silicones which can impart durable pliability, smoothness, crease resistance, compression recovery and elongation recovery to fiber materials.
Various agents consisting of organopolysiloxanes and their compositions have been proposed in attempts to impart pliability, smoothness, crease resistance and recovery characteristics to fiber materials.
For example, dimethylpolysiloxane and its emulsion have been used to impart pliability. Treatment agents consisting of a methylhydrogenpolysiloxane, a dimethylpolysiloxane capped with terminal hydroxyl groups and a catalyst for their condensation reaction; or treatment agents consisting of a methylhydrogenpolysiloxane, a vinyl-group-containing diorganopolysiloxane and a catalyst for their addition reaction, are known to be used for imparting durable pliability, crease resistance and recovery characteristics.
Examples of organofunctional silicone agents include an agent consisting of an organopolysiloxane having at least two epoxy groups per molecule and an organopolysiloxane having an amino group, to be used for smoothing organic synthetic fibers, as disclosed in Canadian Pat. No. 916,544; a treatment agent consisting of a diorganopolysiloxane capped at both ends with hydroxyl groups, an organosilane having both an amino group and an alkoxy group per molecule and/or its hydrolyzed and condensed products, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,500; a treatment agent consisting of an aminoalkyl trialkoxysilane and an epoxy-group-containing organopolysiloxane, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,980,599 and 4,062,999; a treatment agent comprising a carboxylfunctional silicone, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,201 and diorganopolysiloxanes capped at both ends with triorganosiloxy groups, having two or more aminoalkyl groups per molecule, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,115.
However, these conventional agents have their respective drawbacks. For example, the agents primarily consisting of dimethylpolysiloxane oil do not impart durable pliability and smoothness although crease resistance and recovery characteristics are satisfactory. In the case of the agents containing alkoxysilanes as an indispensable component, the alkoxysilanes are easily hydrolyzed when used in emulsions and the life of the treatment bath is undesirably reduced. There is also the drawback that the feel is too stiff. There is another drawback in that the agent is not suitable for the treatment of synthetic fiber products because the curing reaction does not proceed satisfactorily unless the heating conditions are strictly controlled. In the case of the agents containing methylhydrogenpolysiloxane as an indispensable component, there are the drawbacks that the curing reaction does not proceed satisfactorily unless a catalyst is used, and that the life of the treatment bath is too short if a catalyst is used. In the case of the agents primarily consisting of an epoxy-group-containing organopolysiloxane and an amino-group-containing organopolysiloxane, satisfactory durability cannot be obtained unless the treatment is liberally applied.
Copolymers of aminofunctional silicones and carboxylfunctional silicones have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,754,284 and 3,338,943 as being useful fiber- and film-forming compositions and coating and pulp-treating compositions, respectively. However, these compositions are not suitable for the treatment of fibers to provide a good feel for fiber materials produced therefrom.